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Flu hits hard at university, across region

Posted: Friday, February 22, 2008

Flu cases increased four-fold at the University of Georgia this year as flu season arrived in force on campus and across Northeast Georgia.

Nearly 500 flu-stricken UGA students sought treatment at the University Health Center over the last month, and hundreds of students in public schools across the region have stayed home sick as the virus spread throughout the area.

"I can tell you the health center's extremely busy," said Liz Rachun, communications coordinator. "The numbers are pretty amazing from our perspective."

Health care workers at the University Health Center treated 485 people with influenza-like symptoms since Jan. 21, Rachun said, compared to 106 cases during the same period last year.

Health officials say flu season may be nearing its peak this week, and the flu bug is biting people in Athens and surrounding counties harder than in recent years.

Contributing to the problem is that the flu vaccine administered to prevent this year's strains of flu are proving effective only about half the time, according to officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

For the third-straight week, flu was considered widespread in Georgia, and doctors around the state are reporting double the number of confirmed cases as last year, said Dr. Katie Arnold, infectious diseases epidemiologist for state Division of Public Health.

The past two flu seasons were comparatively mild, Arnold said.

At its peak last year, only about 3.5 percent of people who visited a doctor in Georgia were there for the flu. This year, the percentage is more than 7 percent, she said.

Flu cases started to spike about three weeks ago, but those who haven't been infected aren't out of the woods yet. The flu season officially runs until May, and hospitals and clinics could be flooded with patients for another two to three weeks, Arnold said.

"I don't see any indication it's slowing down, so I would suspect we'll be (dealing with this) well into March," she said.

More public school students also are staying home sick lately.

Jefferson Elementary School reported a 30 percent rise in absences because of flu and other illnesses, said Jefferson City Schools Superintendent John Jackson.

One Barrow County school reported almost 15 percent of kids were home, said Ken Greene, director of student services for Barrow County Schools.

Teachers in Barrow are encouraging anyone with flu-like symptoms to stay out of school for at least 24 hours after the fever breaks, Greene said. Teachers also are stressing ways to avoid spreading the disease, by covering coughs and sneezes and washing hands with soap throughout the day.

While this year's flu vaccine isn't as effective as scientists had hoped, inoculation still is the best way to protect against the flu, said Dr. Navin Patel, medical director for the Athens Regional FirstCare.

Patel is prescribing flu-specific medication like Tamiflu to help weaken the flu's symptoms, but reserves that advice for patients who are most vulnerable - the very young and elderly or patients already living with an illness.

For other patients, a flu vaccine is still the best medicine but needs to be taken two to three weeks before exposure to the flu, Patel said.

"It takes about two weeks to have an effect, but it's better than nothing at all," he said.

The Athens-Clarke County Health Department distributed more than 3,000 flu vaccines in Athens this year but still has about 100 doses left at a cost of about $20 a shot, said nurse manager Dr. Marcia Massengill.